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Flight Path Dance Project is a tuition-free repertory training ensemble based in NYC for gifted dancers ages 16-20.
Flight Path dancers practice traditional and contemporary techniques, and perform diverse repertory from guest choreographers. Meet our guest choreographers below.
Beyond the studio, we engage in professional development workshops and experiences (business skills, injury prevention and management, financial literacy, meditation and wellness, professional interfacing, and performance outings), as well as an arts literacy initiative, providing a new book each month (artist biographies, science and anatomy texts, poetry, critical nonfiction, and more), all in an effort to prepare our dancers for the whole of a career in the performing arts.
season 7 dancers.
Myka Damas
Giovana Filardi
Summer Fowler
Nelly Gobillot
Alana Landim
Anjali Linert
Yomisell Martinez
Mitra Matin
Maiyah Matos
Greta O'Grady
Rose Obando
Syron Phillips
Annabelle Prastowo
Sophia Roehl
Paulina Romero
Emily Rosado
Maya Shaw
Laura Sola
Leela Walbot
choreographers.
Rena
Butler
Norbert
De La Cruz III
Keerati
Jinakunwiphat
Ashley
Lindsey
Nina
Flagg
Blake
Krapels
Zachary
Kapeluck
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Stephanie
Martinez
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Caili
Quan
Akira
Uchida
PILOBOLUS
(Matt Kent / Eriko Jimbo)
Vivake
Khamsingsavath
Michael
McGowan
Yusha-Marie Sorzano
Jaclyn
Walsh
Winston
Dynamite
Brown
Samuel Lee
Roberts
Artistic Director
Samuel Lee Roberts began his dance training under the direction of Kathleen Johnston in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. He attended the Juilliard School. Samuel performed in the first international show of Radio City's Christmas Spectacular in Mexico City and danced with the New York cast from 2000 to 2004. Mr. Roberts performed during the award ceremony at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. He worked with Corbin Dances and Keigwin + Company, and had the distinct honor of being a founding member of Battleworks Dance Company under the direction of Robert Battle.
In May 2006, Samuel was named Dance Magazine's "On The Rise" dancer and later published an article titled "Why I Dance" for the magazine. He played several roles in Julie Taymor's film Across the Universe and her original opera Grendel. Samuel also had the pleasure of appearing in the iconic series Sex and the City.
In 2019, he completed a decade as a Principal Dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, under both Judith Jamison and Robert Battle. After leaving Ailey, he appeared on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and in the CW series Katy Keene. During the 2020 holiday season, he enjoyed playing the role of Mr. Flopson in the movie musical Estella Scrooge, directed by Tony Award-winning John Caird.
In 2022, Samuel served as an Executive Producer and Lead Actor in the award-winning short film Forgotten Song. In 2023, he performed as Luis, a Shark, in the production of West Side Story in Sardinia, Italy. In the fall of 2024, Samuel made his Metropolitan Opera House debut in the original opera Grounded, composed by Tony Award-winning Jeanine Tesori. He had a Co-star role in the 2025 Amazon series Étoile. He looks forward to continuing his over 20 year collaboration with video dance maker Mimi Garrard. Mr. Roberts is grateful for the opportunity to serve as the Artistic Director of Flight Path Dance Project.
Josefina (Josie)
Rojas Gómez
Rehearsal Director
& Program Manager
Josefina (Josie) Rojas Gómez is a dancer, choreographer and dance educator, originally from Santiago, Chile. They began their dance training at Sandra Claren School of Irish Dance where they got the chance to start performing professionally at a young age, and even went on to win the Preliminary Champion title at the South American Irish Dance Championships. At 15 years old, after 2 years of ballet training at Royal Dance Chile, they moved to NYC to study at the Joffrey Ballet School. They joined Flight Path as a dancer in Season 3, and after graduating from Joffrey's Ballet Trainee Program at the end of that season they stepped into a Rehearsal Assistant position in the company, later becoming the Rehearsal Director & Program Manager. Outside of Flight Path they've worked with many dance companies in the city including Cindy Brandle Dance Company and Bodies Never Lie Dance Company. Most recently venturing in musical theater, they've performed in musicals such as Disney's "The Little Mermaid", " A Year with Frog and Toad", and "Little Women", amongst others, at the 92NY under the Direction of Megan Doyle. As an educator and choreographer they have the immense privilege of returning to The Joffrey Ballet School as part of their faculty.
Michael
McGowan
Founder &
Artistic Director Emeritus
Michael McGowan began his dance training at his mother’s dance studio in Clarksburg, WV and graduated from the Harid Conservatory of Dance in Boca Raton, FL. Michael was a member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago where he toured the world performing the works of Twyla Tharp, Bob Fosse, Daniel Ezralow and Margo Sappington, among others. He was a guest artist of River North Dance Chicago under the artistic direction of Sherry Zunker, and appeared in a documentary about the company titled Reality of a Dreamer. Michael is forever grateful to his Chicago dance family, especially Lou Conte, Sherry Zunker, and the late Claire Bataille, for inspiring him to continue the legacy of artistic mentorship. Michael was the founder and Artistic Director of Kitchen Sink Dance Company and continued his teaching and choreography at the Spence School in NYC, where he was the Chair of the Performing Arts Department and director of the dance program for fourteen years. Michael was awarded a choreographic residency with the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming, and his work there ultimately led to the development of Flight Path Dance Project. Michael lives in NYC with his husband Steven Lutvak, who composed the music and co-authored the lyrics for the Tony Award-winning Best Musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and their daughter Eliot Rose. (Watch Michael's piece "First, Second and the Third" here.)
Board
Chair
Simi Matera
Vice Chair
Yusha-Marie Sorzano
Treasurer
Sylvie Scowcroft
Secretary
Aydan Cohen
Darnell Benoit
LeeAna Wolfman
Alumni
Board
Evan Blake
Kayenne Charles-Pierre
Aydan Cohen
Sergio Fitzpatrick
Dani Guido
Tobi Lee
Jovy Rose Mariano
Laura Mendes
Julia Ruth Patella
Ada Sensoy
Artistic Director's Crew
Advisory Council
Wendy Lynn Graham
Erika Kuehn
Aran Maree
Michael Francis McBride
Barbara Petrino
Leonard Majzlin
Flight Path Dance Project is committed to ending rascism. We are engaging in a process of prioritizing marginalized work in order to build a more equitable organization. We stand with the Black Lives Matter movement to acknowledge and dismantle systemic racism in all its forms.
The work that we do around ending racism is and will be reflected across all aspects of the program, from Board development to repertory selection to the guest artists and professionals we employ, in order to better represent the diverse experiences of the young dancers we are training and our community at large.
Dance is a transformative change agent, and it is our responsibility as dancers, dance makers, and arts administrators to use that power for progress. We are committed to creating repertory that allows our dancers to express the full range of self, challenge the traditions of concert dance, and expand the minds of our audience.
