Maxine Montilus
As a choreographer, Maxine has presented work at various institutions, including The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, and Harlem School for the Arts with Haiti Cultural Exchange for their annual Selebrasyon Festival. Maxine has also presented choreography in Dance Caribbean COLLECTIVE’s annual New Traditions Showcase from 2015-2017.  In 2014, she choreographed BallyBeg Production’s third play and Equity-approved showcase, “The Taste of It”, and was a 2015 nominee for Outstanding Choreography/Movement in The New York Innovative Theater Awards for her work in the production. In 2017, Maxine served as an Afro-Cuban/Haitian Folklore consultant for Camille Brown in her work for the Broadway musical “Once On This Island.”  Maxine was also the choreographer for Opera Orlando’s presentations of George Bizet’s “Carmen” (April 2021), “The Secret River” (December 2021), and “The Magic Flute” (October 2022). All three productions made their premieres at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. 

In 2019, Maxine founded MV Dance Project, a dance company that aims to be of service to others through public performances and dance education programming.  In June 2019, the company performed its first evening-length production “Strength in Spirit” at Brooklyn Studios for Dance. 

Maxine will be working with youth from the Haitian Diaspora of Brooklyn (through movement workshops and other forms of artistic collaboration) to build an immersive choreographic work tentatively titled “L’Espwa Pou Demen”.  The work will involve incorporating the voices of Haitian youth on the future they would like to see for Haiti.