OUR MISSION
To create performances that are witty, soulful, intelligent, powerful and intriguing. To encourage the integration and inclusion of people with disabilities in dance and in society.To present new, exciting, challenging and inspiring contemporary dance performances to the widest possible audience.
Artistic Director and Founder
Zazel Chavah O'Garra
I have a new life through dance, rising above body deficits, embracing a new body and the illumination of a life force. 
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Zazel is an accomplished dancer, actor, model, and brain tumor survivor!
Zazel-Chavah O’Garra -a native New Yorker is a a graduate of the High School of Performing Arts in New York, Zazel honed her skills at the University of Michigan and Empire State College, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in dance performance.
A Presidential Arts Scholar, she received a scholarship at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and performed with Mark Dendy Dance Company and, choreographed fashion shows, and led master classes in Modern, Jazz, and African Dance in the United States and Europe. Zazel has performed off-Broadway on national and European tours, and television and film. Zazel’s talent transcended the stage. She’s graced the covers of Essence Magazine on two occasions. Other accomplishments include several catalogue and runway jobs in United States and Europe. She also appeared in national and regional commercials and supplied voice-overs for a number of ads and served as a movement coach for the soap opera “As the World Turns.” In 2003, Zazel received a life-altering diagnosis of Meningioma, a benign brain tumor which left her partially paralyzed. Despite the initial setback, Zazel’s career reached new heights. Zazel returned to the stage to tell her survival story in “Nothing like a Dame” at New York’s Schubert Theater on Broadway, a benefit and fundraiser for the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative and the Actor’s Fund. In addition to performing, Zazel shares her expertise as a teaching artist and an educator. In collaboration with director Ping Chong, Zazel tells her story in the production of “Inside/Out…Voices of The Disability Community” nationwide. Their partnership also includes Chong’s “Secret Histories” performed in the New York City Public Schools and Lincoln Center. She appeared in “Sing the Body”, a documentary filmed by director Madeline Hunt-Ehrlich, that identifies a person with a disability and performs with freedom. Zazel appeared on theatre row at the Beckett Theatre performing with ThisAbility, the fully inclusive Performing Arts Professional Theatre Company under the direction of Jamie Petrone. Zazel performed “The Other Plays: Short Plays About Diversity and Otherness” off-Broadway with Theatre Breaking Through Barriers, directed by Christopher Burris. Recent performances include Undesirable Elements-Lincoln Center, A lot on the Mind: Ballroom Dancing and Seizures-Playwrights Horizon, Cooper Hewitt Museum and Greenspace-WQXR-WRVR. Zazel was selected by Dr. Donna Rena Walton and Attorney Claudia Gordon, formerly of the White House Office of Public Engagement, as a guest speaker at the first Black History Month program on disability at the White House in 2014. |
Zazel is a recipient of the VSA (Very Special Arts) John F. Kennedy Center National Teaching Artist Fellowship and the GAIA Women’s Health and Wellness Award for Artistic Achievement. She appeared on an episode of “Dr. Oz” in order to share her coping strategies and experience with meningioma.
Zazel is on the DANCE/NYC disability task force, which was formed to bring groups and/or artists producing dance work focused on themes and issues of disability. As a member, she will assist in developing programs to provide dance lessons to children with disabilities in NYC public schools. Zazel has been appointed to the Arts and Education Committee by Chancellor Farina of the New York City Department of Education.
Zazel holds a Masters in Social Work from Fordham University.
Zazel is on the DANCE/NYC disability task force, which was formed to bring groups and/or artists producing dance work focused on themes and issues of disability. As a member, she will assist in developing programs to provide dance lessons to children with disabilities in NYC public schools. Zazel has been appointed to the Arts and Education Committee by Chancellor Farina of the New York City Department of Education.
Zazel holds a Masters in Social Work from Fordham University.
Zazel is partnered with the following organizations:
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MEET OUR DANCERS
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SASHA ROSS BECKER
Sasha Ross Becker was born and raised in the hills of Middlesex, Vermont. She is currently living in Brooklyn, NY following her career path of Graphic Design. She has also worked as a performing artist, through theatrical/dance performances to professional musicianship.
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NANETTE DE CILLIS
Nanette De Cillis began her professional dance career in 1978 after studies with Professor Dorothy Vislocky at Hunter College. With Contact Improvisation, Nanette discovered a movement vocabulary that resonated. She danced with notables Pooh Kaye, Robin Feld, Elise Bernhardt, Remy Charlip, and Johanna Boyce among others. Her work with mixed ability dance began in 1984, when fellow dancer Carey Erickson sustained a devastating spinal cord injury. From that tragedy, came an unexpected medical milestone when Carey walked again, and for Nanette, a life’s passion to create inclusive dance. Most recently, with her own company, No Limit Dance, Nanette has choreographed, danced and raised money for spinal cord injury research in venues from the Brooklyn Historical Society to the Winter Garden. She is thrilled to be joining Zazel and ZCO to continue the work.
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JAZALEE SIRCUS
Jazalee Sircus is 36 years old was born in New York City. and has cerebral palsy. Raised by wonderful parents, both professional dancers for the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. Her father was a drummer and mother performed modern dance and ballet. Dance and music are my passion because it's in my blood that’s why I am a member of ZCO Dance Project. Jazalee keeps with daily activities , such as knitting classes, website and business card design . She also attends dance class twice a week.
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MILLIE GONZALEZ
Millie Gonzalez is a proud member of ZCO Dance Project, a New York-based modern dance company producing powerful and intriguing dance works of artistic distinction performed by dancers with disabilities. She is also a founding member of Shimmy Sisters, a modern belly dance troupe out of New Jersey, and has performed with Heidi Latsky Dance Company in the human art installation, "On Display." Millie has participated in AXIS Dance Company’s Physically Integrated Dance Intensive & Teacher Training with Artistic Director Marc Brew, and completed a Summer Intensive with Full Radius Dance, learning technique, improvisation, site-specific, choreography and teacher training. In addition, Millie is on the board of directors for the Spina Bifida Resource Network and Alliance Center for Independence, and is the co-emcee for the NJ Disability Pride Parade. She also organizes the ReelAbilities: NJ Disabilities Film Festival at Kean University, which features disabled artists, performers and speakers alongside award-winning international films that promote awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with disabilities. She is a frequent public speaker and works full-time as a writer, editor and event planner.
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COLLEEN ROCHE
Colleen Roche was introduced to dance as exercise and a form of non-verbal expression several years ago. She joined ZCO Dance Project in 2014, and is thankful to be part of a company committed to making dance accessible to all. She also enjoys practicing Parcon, an inclusive, cooperative, site specific movement practice, and is a member of the Shimmy Sisters, a modern belly dance troupe.
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DINA JACKSON
Dina Jackson, is a 57 year old breast cancer survivor. Paralyzed from the disease and chemotherapy, Dina still has a zest for life! She enjoys dancing, sports, concerts and theatre events. Dina loves her daughters, grandchildren, and extended family and friends. Dina thanks God for life! |
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CATHERINE ENG
Catherine Eng grew up in Chicago and started to practice Horton and ballet in fourth grade at her community’s dance studio Hyde Park School of Dance. There she fostered a love of moving, storytelling, and choreographing. She took this love with her to Sarah Lawrence College and ended up focusing on media studies and performance. In college she had the joy of working with lots of fantastic teachers like Peggy Gould, Jennifer Nugent, K.J. Holms, and Kota Yamazaki. She benefited from the compositional mentorship of John Jasperse, Dean Moss, David Neumann, and Beth Gill. Her work, which is interested in intermediary storytelling, has been performed around New York at various venues including Arts on Site, Triskelion arts, and more recently The Works. Since graduatng in May 2019, Catherine’s been dancing with Human Kinetics Movement Arts, Rou Rou Ye, and practicing with Sara Rudner. |