Staibdance Summer Intensive in Italy
Dive into the poetry of physicality and the elegance of athleticism in this two-week immersive program with world-renowned faculty.
July 13-27, 2025
Applications Open January 6, 2025!
Scroll below for 2025 program details including faculty, schedule and tuition rates.
Contact italyprogram@staibdance.com with questions.
OUr Mission
The staibdance summer intensive in Sorrento, Italy, serves as a meeting place for emerging and established movement artists from across the globe. Participants are encouraged to create collaboratively, embrace spontaneity, build foundations for life-long connections, and hone authentic, unique voices. The intensive is a source for personalized attention and provides individuals time and space for infinite growth as artists. Together, participants merge with the history, customs, and warmth of the region, celebrating cultural exchange.
Hear from past Attendees
“I’ve never had a teacher or faculty so invested in wanting their students to succeed and achieve their dreams.”
“This experience was brilliantly designed to build artists, not machines.”
“I felt seen, appreciated, and valued by every single instructor and staff member.”
“From this journey, I am pleased to walk away with a balanced and thorough toolkit of opportunity and artistry.”
2025 program faculty
staibdance Artistic Director
Born in Tehran, Iran, George Staib is of Armenian descent and has been living in the United States since the age of ten. He began his dance training at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, then went on to earn an MFA in dance and choreography from Temple University. Company credits include: Ann Vachon/Dance Conduit, Coriolis Dance Company, Gathering Wild Dance Company, and Paula Kellinger and Dancers. In addition, the fall of 2006 provided Staib the opportunity to perform with the José Limón Dance Company as a guest artist in their re-creation of Missa Brevis.
In 2001 Staib joined the dance faculty at Emory University where he teaches contemporary and ballet techniques, choreography, and a seminar created to examine the impetus and practice of consuming and making art. He serves as an adjudicator for and was an 18 year member of the executive committee for the American College Dance Association, and currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for Dance/USA. Since relocating to Atlanta, GA, Staib's work and teaching have been commissioned across the United States resulting in his recognition by Dance Teacher Magazine in 2014 as one of the top five dance educators in the country. As added service to the field, Staib is a contributing writer and critic for ArtsATL.
Staib is a two-time recipient of Emory’s prestigious Winship Award, taking him to Tel Aviv in 2011 to study Gaga, release technique with Iris Enez, and Jerusalem to conduct choreographic workshops. In 2016, Staib and the company were invited to Stockholm to perform and teach at Södra Latins and BalletAkadamien, and subsequently created new work for Saraceno Dance.
Since the founding of staibdance, he and the company have been awarded funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Emory University Research Committee, The Latham Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The New England Foundation for the Arts, South Arts and The Vail Family Foundation.
In addition, staibdance curated and produced the first-ever Atlanta Multicultural Dance Festival, created a summer intensive in Sorrento, Italy, now in its 12th year and hosted a 10-part podcast series titled Secret Architecture: the process of process, that features culturally based artists from across the country.
Staib’s most recent accomplishments include promotion to the rank of Professor of Practice at Emory University, engagement as an educator with ImmerseATL, recognition by the Atlanta Regional Commission as an Arts Leader of Metro Atlanta, and in the summer of 2022, Staib served as a faculty member and choreographer for the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC.
photo by Daylilies Photography
Anna Bracewell is an Atlanta based dance artist. She was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and began her dance training at an early age at Decatur School of Ballet. While continuing her classical training at DSOB, she trained, and went on to graduate from, DeKalb School of the Arts where she studied under the legendary Pamala Jones-Malave. Anna later received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Since 2012, she has had the deep pleasure of being a member of staibdance, under the direction of George Staib, where she is a dancer, collaborator and teacher. Anna was also a member of Core Dance from 2012-2020. As a Dance Artist with Core Dance she has performed in theaters, museums, public spaces, and festivals across the United States, France, Spain and Israel. In her time with the company, Anna has had the opportunity to move and create original works with notable artists such as Niv Sheinfeld & Oren Laor (Tel Aviv), Germana Civera (France/Spain), Frank van de Ven (Amsterdam), Amanda K. Miller (Germany/U.S.), Isabelle Saulle & Adolfo Vargas (France), Leslie Scates (U.S.), D. Patton White, Lori Teague and Sue Schroeder (U.S.). In addition to her collaborations with Core Dance, Anna is able to practice her work with outreach through the Dynamic X-Change Healing Arts Program in pursuit to ignite the creative spirit and actively encourage participation and conversation by and with communities.
In her years of dancing professionally in Atlanta, Anna has also created and collaborated with local artists Blake Beckham (The Lucky Penny), Joshua Rackliffe, Erik Thurmond and Catellier Dance Projects!.
Anna was recognized as “Best Dancer” in Atlanta by ArtsATL.org in 2018 and has been internationally recognized in her collaborative work with: Association Manifeste (Toulouse, France) in which she performed in several public corner spaces across France and the U.S., and in her work with Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor performed in Tel Aviv, Israel.
photo by Daylilies Photography
Sarah Hillmer has 20+ years of experience in the professional dance world as a dancer, rehearsal director, assistant to choreographers, stager, educator, creator and arts administrator.
Her company credits include the Atlanta Ballet, glo - as a founding member, and staibdance. Sarah served as a Rehearsal Director at the Atlanta Ballet from 2013-2019 where artistic relationships with Twyla Tharp and Helen Pickett were forged. Sarah staged work for Twyla Tharp at Royal Winnipeg Ballet & Atlanta Ballet, and her work as a stager and assistant for Helen Pickett have taken her to Alberta Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, New York Theatre Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Scottish Ballet, Smuin Ballet, UArts and UNCSA.
Sarah is the Founder & Director of ImmerseATL, a training & mentorship program that serves dancers at pivotal stages in their ever-evolving journey as artists through the Artist Program and the ImmerseATL Collective.
As a choreographer, Sarah has been commissioned to create work for Atlanta Ballet’s Wabi Sabi, Backside of the Tent Productions, Emory Dance Company and Admix Project. Sarah has been a co-collaborator with George Staib on two productions; fence in 2019, which was funded by a grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts, National Dance Project, and Dido & Aeneas in 2023, a collaboration with the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra.
As an arts administrator, Sarah currently serves as staibdance’s Executive Director. During her 5-year tenure she has planned and managed 6 national tours, 2 world premieres, annual workshops, an annual 2-week summer intensive in Sorrento, Italy, (MC)2-Atlanta’s first multi-cultural dance festival, as well as a docuseries based on (MC)2 and a podcast series, Secret Architecture: the process of process.
Additionally, Sarah serves as Business Operations Manager for Windmill Arts, an organization dedicated to the advancement of new work in the arts.
sarahjhillmer.com
photo by Daylilies Photography
Monique Jonas began dancing with the Chance to Dance programme before training at the Arts Educational Schools London. She completed her training at Rambert School, and received her Masters Degree from The London Contemporary Dance School 2017.
Monique recently played the role of Juliet in Mathew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet, which toured internationally in 2024. She joined New Adventures in 2019 and has performed across multiple productions in that time. She, however, started her career with Richard Alston Dance Company as an apprentice in 2016 and toured extensively, both nationally and internationally with RADC, until their final performance in 2020. Additionally Monique founded her own dance company, Jona Dance in 2019. She has been choreographing, movement directing, teaching and producing work both online and in person. Jona Dance have created for Ballet Black, Miller Harris, Reebok and London Fashion Week to name a few. She recently premiered her work FLOCK on ENBS at the Peacock Theatre in 2023, and a new creation, Infinite for National Youth Ballet at Sadler’s Wells in 2022.
Monique is also a guest contemporary tutor at The Royal Ballet School, English National Ballet School & Ballet Futures, London Contemporary Dance School, Artistry Youth Dance, Fabric CAT and more.
Over the years, Monique has worked with Rambert Dance Company, Ben Duke, Agudo Dance, Vidya Patel , Clod Ensemble and commercially on the Brit Awards (2021) BBC Drama; The Pursuit of Love (2021), The Marvels (Disney 2023), The REGIME (HBO, 2024) Jamie Cullum, Kae Tempest, and Kylie Minogue.
photo by Elly Wel Photography
Oliver Robertson is a movement artist, researcher and practitioner currently based in Brighton. Interested in contemporary floorwork, Oliver’s movement style takes inspiration from martial arts, capoeira, breakdance and acrobatics, and more specifically how the combination of these can create unique ways of moving that no longer fall into any of these boxes.
Since graduating Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2019, Oliver gained his MA whilst on a placement program with James Wilton Dance company, performing multiple full length works across Europe. Continuing his work with James Wilton Dance where he has taken the role of Education Manager, teaching workshops to schools, universities and dance companies across the UK and European countries such as Italy, Germany, Sweden & Romania. Aside from teaching, Oliver has danced for music artist Fred Again as part of his US tour visuals, toured Ireland with Roisin Whelan Dance and choreographed commissions for Youth Academies across the country.
Gavriel Spitzer graduated from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance in 2000 and was a dancer with the Batsheva Ensemble and the Batsheva Dance Company from 2000-2008. In 2009 Gavriel joined Suzanne Dellal productions, working with choreographers Barak Marshall and Renana Raz. He has been a member of the Gaga teaching staff since 2002, teaching both Gaga and repertoire by Ohad Naharin both in Israel and abroad. Gavriel has also been the stage manager of the Batsheva Ensemble since 2012 and in 2019 became the Ensemble's rehearsal director. Gavriel was one of the teachers at the Ido Portal Israel facility and has been a therapist in the Ilan Lev method since 2008.
SCHEDULE
Sunday, July 13
Welcome reception at Hotel Montana overlooking the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius
Monday, July 14 - Thursday, July 17
Classes
Friday, July 18
FREE DAY to explore the Amalfi coast
Suggested day tips include: Capri, Positano, Pompeii, Sorrento, Herculaneum, Mt. Vesuvius, and Naples
Add on excursion option: Private boat tour to Positano
Saturday, July 19 - Tuesday, July 22
Classes
Wednesday, July 23
FREE DAY - Group beach excursion to Conca Del Sogno Beach Club
Transportation, entrance to the beach, sun beds, umbrellas, and lunch included
Thursday, July 24 - Saturday, July 26
Classes
Sunday, July 27
Public performance at Sant'Agata's central piazza
Monday, July 28
Hotel checkout & departure
TUITION
Early Bird Tuition: $3,275
(applications received by Friday, March 21 at 11:59pm are eligible for the early bird tuition rate)
Full Tuition: $3,550
(full tuition will be applied to applications received between March 22 and April 11)
Tuition includes:
11 days of intensive study; 3 classes and rehearsals daily
15 nights accommodation at the 4-star Hotel Montana - Double, Triple or Quad room, private bath, air conditioning
Full breakfast and dinner daily at the Hotel Montana
Group beach excursion
1 outdoor performance in Sant'Agata's central piazza
Round trip airport transportation by private bus and car
(Tuition does not include airfare, lunches, or alternative travel arrangements)
Space is limited, and SPOTS WILL BE FILLED ON A FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED BASIS. A non-refundable deposit of $750 is due within 3 weeks of acceptance.
All applications require a $25 processing fee.
SCHOLARSHIPS
A limited amount of scholarships for partial funding towards program costs are available.
Awards are need-blind and are based on the artistic merit, intention, and vision of the applicant.
Please be prepared to submit a letter of recommendation and an artist statement alongside general application requirements.
All applications require a $25 processing fee.
Please contact italyprogram@staibdance.com with questions.