About
Arts Assembly A2 Youth Programming offers contemporary movement classes, workshops, and intensives that include contemporary movement research, floorwork, soft acrobatics, partnering, improvisation, and choreographic research. Young participants take part in contemporary dance practices, dance theater methodologies, acting, and process based arts education that involves visual arts, theater, and movement. The program also includes performance projects, performance opportunities, solo creations, mentorship, day adventures when AAPS is out, and youth programming connected to pre-professional intensives, weekend workshops, week-long intensives, and creative residencies.
VIM VIGOR DANCE COMPANY, which is a decade-strong nonprofit organization, leads programming at Arts Assembly A2 through a tri-fold platform focused on training and professional development, creative residencies and partnerships, and community engagement. The leadership team includes Shannon Gillen as Arts Assembly A2 Founder and Lead Teacher and Artistic Director and Co-Choreographer of VIM VIGOR, and Jason Reese C. as Arts Assembly A2 Lead Teacher and Co-Choreographer of VIM VIGOR. Additional teachers include Katherine Kiessling, Caitlyn Wade, and Samy Nevárez, who are VIM VIGOR company members, collaborators, performers, and guest company members and teachers. Shannon Gillen is the artistic director of VIM VIGOR and an Associate Professor of Dance at the University of Michigan, with training from The Juilliard School, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and Meisner acting at the Maggie Flanigan Studio in New York City. Jason Reese C. is a co-choreographer and founding member of VIM VIGOR and a LEO in Dance at the University of Michigan, with a BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase, an MFA in dance from the University of Michigan, Meisner training at Maggie Flanigan Studio, and massage therapy licenses in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Teacher Katherine Kiessling holds a double major in Dance and Computer Science from the University of Michigan, and teacher Caitlyn Wade holds a BFA in Dance, a BA in Linguistics, and a minor in Interdisciplinary Astronomy from the University of Michigan. Arts Assembly A2 and VIM VIGOR state a mission that centers on exceptional artistic experiences for humans of all ages across contemporary movement modalities, fostering creative risk taking with community reward, and supporting the arts ecosystem of Southeast Michigan through residencies, partnerships, and community engagement with local, national, and international artists and youth organizations.
Last updated January 5, 2026.
VIM VIGOR DANCE COMPANY, which is a decade-strong nonprofit organization, leads programming at Arts Assembly A2 through a tri-fold platform focused on training and professional development, creative residencies and partnerships, and community engagement. The leadership team includes Shannon Gillen as Arts Assembly A2 Founder and Lead Teacher and Artistic Director and Co-Choreographer of VIM VIGOR, and Jason Reese C. as Arts Assembly A2 Lead Teacher and Co-Choreographer of VIM VIGOR. Additional teachers include Katherine Kiessling, Caitlyn Wade, and Samy Nevárez, who are VIM VIGOR company members, collaborators, performers, and guest company members and teachers. Shannon Gillen is the artistic director of VIM VIGOR and an Associate Professor of Dance at the University of Michigan, with training from The Juilliard School, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and Meisner acting at the Maggie Flanigan Studio in New York City. Jason Reese C. is a co-choreographer and founding member of VIM VIGOR and a LEO in Dance at the University of Michigan, with a BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase, an MFA in dance from the University of Michigan, Meisner training at Maggie Flanigan Studio, and massage therapy licenses in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Teacher Katherine Kiessling holds a double major in Dance and Computer Science from the University of Michigan, and teacher Caitlyn Wade holds a BFA in Dance, a BA in Linguistics, and a minor in Interdisciplinary Astronomy from the University of Michigan. Arts Assembly A2 and VIM VIGOR state a mission that centers on exceptional artistic experiences for humans of all ages across contemporary movement modalities, fostering creative risk taking with community reward, and supporting the arts ecosystem of Southeast Michigan through residencies, partnerships, and community engagement with local, national, and international artists and youth organizations.
Last updated January 5, 2026.
Is this your business? There is no cost, but you will be asked to sign up or log in.