FOUNDERS

Kyla Barkin

Kyla Barkin, Founding/Artistic Director of BARKIN/SELISSEN PROJECT (“BSP”), was raised in Tempe, AZ and has been a resident of “El Barrio” in NYC for nearly 20 years. As a teen she studied with “La Mariquilla” at the Academia de Ballet Flamenco in Granada, Spain then received her degree in Dance from UCLA. Ms. Barkin has toured internationally, is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Jean Irwin Award.

“Ms. Barkin's avid, physically expansive attack is exciting.” -Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times.

Her New York City based dance company of 15yrs, BSP, was a Wilson College Summer Artist in Residence where 3 of 5 short dance films were created as part of the Titles Project series, and released via on-line platforms with the intention of creating open access to art and meeting people where they are.  

Barkin’s choreography has been widely shown including at The New Victory Theater, The Staller Center for the Arts, Jacob’s Pillow 80th Anniversary at Inside/Out, Jazz at Lincoln Center, West End Theater, Boston’s Dance Complex, Touhill PAC (St. Louis, MO), Bryant Park, Arts On Site, LaGuardia Community College, The Flea Theater, The Joyce SOHO, National Math Festival, Tempe Center for the Arts, Arts On Site, NYU, and the 92nd St Y. Her work has also been presented internationally at venues in Berlin (Germany), Edinburgh (Scotland), Yogyakarta (Indonesia), and more. Notable collaborations include dance films made with Juano Castillo, Idle House, FALKOR Systems’ autonomous pet drone, Reggie Watts for Sally Taylor’s ConSenses, Martinez Miroto for Body in Between, mathematician James Simons, Sirius String Quartet, and Nel Shelby on “Differential Cohomology” & its documentary, as well as on-going artistic partnerships with composers James Guastaferro, Zac Selissen and Kevin Keller.

Barkin has been working with Janis Brenner & Dancers since 1998 and has been a guest speaker, panelist and/or has taught and set works, both of Brenner’s and her own, at institutions such as SUNY Brockport, STEM From Dance, Hofstra University, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, National Math Festival, An Eve. Of Math & Dance presented by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, NCSA, The Juilliard School, The Joffrey School, Stony Brook University, the Creative Arts Studio in Brooklyn, NIA in Taiwan, ISI in Yogyakarta, and Tanzakademie Balance 1 in Berlin, Felicity House, and Rockland County Community College’s Liberty Partnerships Program. She has danced with companies including Isabel Gotzkowsky and Friends, The Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, and The Doug Elkins Dance Company. She has been on faculty at USDAN Center for Performing Arts and continues to teach classes, private lessons and workshops both in the United States and internationally. Ms. Barkin has also been an entrepreneur, Fitness/Wellness Professional, Medical Exercise Specialist, and Yoga Teacher/Therapist in New York City for 30 years. She is grateful to have been able to establish the Dancers Above Water Relief Fund, to serve on the board of the Foundation for a Just Society, and for the opportunity to connect and carry her cross-cultural background with her through her endeavors in art, wellness and social action.

Photo by Sloan Timson

Aaron Selissen

Aaron Selissen, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of BARKIN/SELISSEN PROJECT, is originally from Green Bay, WI. He received his B.F.A. in Dance Performance from Butler University.

He has choreographed and directed more than 15 works for B/S P including several dance films for the short film series, Titles Project. His work has been presented domestically and abroad at venues including the Inside/Out Series at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, New Victory Theater, Staller Center for the Arts Main Stage at Stony Brook University, Bryant Park, the 92 St. Y, West End Theater, Ailey Citigroup Theater, Flea Theater, Gerald W. Lynch Theater, Arts on Site, Sam Houston State University, Hofstra University, and more. 

Aaron has taught classes/workshops and set choreographic works in public and private schools throughout New York City and the United States including Marymount Manhattan College, STEPS on Broadway, University of South Carolina, the American Dance Festival, Limón Professional Studies Program, and Northern Plains Dance; abroad at such institutions as Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta, Institut Kesenian Jakarta in Indonesia, and Teatr Muzyczny Capitol in Wroclaw, Poland, and the Pavarotti Music Center in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina. He regularly works with the Limón Dance Company/Institute in NYC as a sports specific coach and teacher.

Selissen has worked with Dance Kaleidoscope and Ballet Internationale of Indianapolis. He has performed with the Martha Graham Ensemble, Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, and Isabel Gotzkowsky and Friends, among others. He was a member of the Limón Dance Company from 2010 to 2016 and can currently be seen performing with Janis Brenner & Dancers (since 2007).